Researchers and Scientists

Introduction to the Calgary Brain Bank

The Calgary Brain Bank (CBB) was established in conjunction with the University of Calgary and the Hotchkiss Brain Institute from grants provided by private donations in order to provide human tissues to researchers studying human neurodegenerative diseases. The tissues stored in the bank include brains and some spinal cord from patients who died either with no known neurologic disorder or with a recognized neurodegenerative disease. The CBB specifically stores tissues from patients with dementing disorders, movement disorders, motor neuron diseases, and multiple sclerosis.

Since the CBB is relatively new, most of our degenerative disease tissue is from patients with Alzheimer or Lewy body diseases. We also have some tissue from patients who had progressive supranuclear palsy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and some rarer forms of neurodegeneration.

At the CBB, we routinely preserve tissue in three manners: formalin-fixed, formalin-fixed paraffin embedded, and snap-frozen in liquid nitrogen vapour. The snap-frozen tissues average about 0.8 x 0.8 cm and are selected from specific anatomic sites. For local researchers, we can provide fresh tissue at the time of autopsy. We are willing to work with researchers and preserve tissue using other techniques. When requested, we can also freeze larger samples of brain.

For normal and neurodegenerative disease brains, we normally preserve frozen samples from half and examine the other half for any pathological changes. Tissue samples available for researchers all have contralateral sections that have been examined for pathological changes. A tissue sample will include the major brain diagnosis or diagnoses, the anatomic site, and some details about the pathological changes at that anatomic site.

Safety

Although the CBB does not bank brains from patients with known transmissible or infectious diseases, such as Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, HIV, or hepatitis B, the CBB cannot guarantee that the tissues were not exposed to or infected with such agents. All researchers using human tissue need to follow standard safety protocols to minimize exposure to possible transmissible or infectious diseases.

Requirements for requesting human tissue

The Calgary Brain Bank can provide tissues to researchers if they meet four basic requirements:

1. Specific plan on how the tissue will be used. We need a brief (1-2 pages maximum) document describing how the tissue will be used and for what purpose. Basic aspects of this plan should be discussed with the CBB staff, so we can be sure that we have the appropriate tissues. We also might suggest the most appropriate anatomic sites, diseases, and controls that would be best for the particular plan or project.
2. Documentation of IRB-approval for this plan or project from the researcher's local institution. The researcher must have an IRB (Internal Review Board) ethics approval for their project and specifically for the use of human tissue. As per our brain bank IRB, we require the IRB approval number or notification.
3. Completed Calgary Brain Bank Tissue Request Form.
4. Billing information. We require information about billing, so we can recover some of the expenses entailed (see below), notably the cost of shipping the tissues. 

Types of tissues available at the Calgary Brain Bank

The Calgary Brain Bank stores tissues for research from patients who died with a neurodegenerative disease or who die without any clinically-known neurologic disease. The types of neurodegenerative diseases preserved include dementias (mainly Alzheimer and Lewy body diseases), movement disorders (mainly Parkinson disease and progressive supranuclear palsy), motor neuron diseases, and multiple sclerosis.

Currently, the CBB preserves tissue for researcher in three manners: formalin-fixed; formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE); and snap frozen over liquid nitrogen vapour (LNV). We can provide fresh tissue for researchers who are close to the brain bank. We can also use other preservation techniques that might be required for a specific research project; this would have to be requested by a researcher and be feasible at the time of banking. The FFPE include brain bank blocks that can be sent out and autopsy blocks from which blank recuts can be made. The LNV samples are about 0.8 cm cubes and are anatomically specific (e.g. entorhinal cortex, Brodmann area 9, etc). All of the anatomic locations available have a corresponding pathology slide, so we know what it contains.

At this time (August 2018) we have samples from about 95 patients. Most cases have FFPE blocks that could be sent. About a third have retained formalin-fixed tissue, and about half have frozen tissue. About one third are from patients with no clinically identified neurologic disease, although many of these have "age related" changes, including small vessel disease and a few tangles and/or plaques. All have been characterized neuropathologically, including screening of anatomically sensitive regions for major protein aggregates. As primary diagnoses, about 15 have Alzheimer disease, 9 Lewy body disease, and 5 progressive supranuclear palsy.

Expenses for obtaining tissue

The CBB does not charge for the tissue itself. However, we try to recover some of the costs for preparing the tissue (mainly basic supplies but not professional fees) and ask that researchers fund all of the expenses related to the shipment of any tissues, including the costs of the shipping container, dry ice, and the shipment fees. Shipment transportation costs could, for example, be paid via a Fed-Ex shipping number.

Acknowledgements

Whenever publications are based on tissues procured by the CBB, we request at a minimum that the CBB be acknowledged. If staff at the CBB had any intellectual input into the research (e.g. suggestions on the most appropriate anatomic sites to use best control tissues), we would appreciate being coauthors on the publication.

The CBB must be acknowledged in any publication, including abstracts, related to the use of tissues obtained.

Questions and Answers

Q: Do I need to have ethics approval for my project before I can apply for tissue samples?
A: Yes, research ethics approval is required before tissue can be released. If necessary, we can provide assistance with brain bank related questions on the ethics application. The IRB approval number must be submitted to the brain bank prior to the tissue being provided for the research project.

Q: How do I request tissue?
Please complete the Calgary Brain Bank Tissue Request Form and prepare an outline of your proposed project. Send the request form, the proposal, and the IRB approval to ucbb@ucalgary.ca or email us for more information. 

Q: I've completed my project but still have remaining tissue. Can I supply it to someone else?
No. Tissue provided must be used solely by the researcher identified on the Tissue Request Form. Recipients must not distribute tissue to other researchers, as this would violate our ethics requirements. Unfortunately, the CBB cannot accept returned frozen tissue; such tissue must be properly discarded.

Q: What will tissue cost me or my grant?
A: The main costs associated with obtaining tissue are the cost incurred for transport/shipping of the tissue and a nominal cost the brain bank will charge for its handling of the tissue. The latter is to increase the sustainability of the brain bank. Any shipping costs, including the packaging, dry ice, and expedited shipping, are solely the responsibility of the researcher.